So, here’s where we are at.
Bank of America has been arguing that it had no say over the Merrill Lynch bonuses given out in 2008, that those bonuses were given out by the previous entity, that they can’t possibly be held liable in any way for the actions of a now-nonexistent company. Investigators might be looking into the veracity of those statements, but that is what Ken Lewis and the BoA folks have been arguing.
But then, when it comes to disclosing the information about those bonuses, BoA jumps up and screams that the judge can’t possibly do such a thing. From Bloomberg:
At today’s hearing and in court filings, Bank of America has argued that it would be harmed if the information were made public. The bank claimed in court filings that doing so would provide a “roadmap,” revealing which business lines the banks believe to be most valuable, and enable competitors to poach the bank’s top talent.
. . . .
“Imagine, tomorrow in the Daily News, 200 names and their compensation,” [BoA lawyer Evan] Davis said. “Americans care about their privacy. That matters to us because if we don’t try to protect it and succeed in protecting it, we’ll lose them to foreign banks.”
So, bonuses that they had no control over and that relate to a nonexistent company are going to be so problematic if revealed, even though the people are gone or have been merged into a new structure at BoA? It’s too cute by half. If BoA and Merrill hadn’t been so secretive about the bonuses in the first place, Cuomo and Congress wouldn’t have had to investigate in order to find out about them. And once you bring on an investigation, you have to deal with where it leads.
Per Bloomberg, the judge hopes to have a ruling within a week.
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Chris Geidner is the award-winning senior political editor at D.C.'s Metro Weekly and has written for The Atlantic Online, The American Prospect, Advocate.com, Salon and other publications, as well as at his blog, Law Dork. In 2011, he received the Excellence in News Writing Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his coverage of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal. Prior to moving to D.C. in 2009, he served as an attorney on the senior staff at the Ohio Attorney General's Office and had earlier worked for a leading Columbus law firm. An extended biography can be found